CNLL to host state little league tourney this weekend

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville National Little League will host the 11-12-year-old Little League Baseball Tennessee State Tournament Saturday behind Barksdale Elementary. This is the tournament the feeds teams to the Little League regionals, and ultimately the Little League World series as seen on ESPN each summer. The tournament kicks off with the opening ceremony and first games Saturday.

As the host district, District 9 will have two teams in the tournament, including Clarksville National Little League who captured the District 9 title and Northwest Little League will represent District 9 as the runner-up.

South Nashville Little League, from District 7, has qualified for the state tournament and will be one of the favorites in Clarksville when the tournament begins. That team won the Southeastern regional and advanced to the Little League World series last year. The year before, Goodlettsville Little League, also from District 7, advanced to the finals of the World Series and won the USA championship. Ultimately, Goodlettsville finished as runner-up in the World Series as it fell to the international champion in the finals in 2012.

Northwest Big League team falls in regional

The Northwest Big League Baseball 15-18 team won the state tournament in Blountville, Tenn., after they moved through the consolation bracket before they defeated Blountville 11-0 to win the Tennessee State Championship for the fifth consecutive year.

Northwest beat East Nashville 4-2 in the opener before falling to Blountville 6-5 to drop into the loser bracket. With their backs against the wall, Northwest responded with an 11–4 win over East Nashville and two wins against Blountville, the last of which clinched the state title.

Northwest advanced to the Southeast Regional in Ft. Lauderdale July 11 where they lost the opener to the host team, Florida District 21, 8-7, in 13 innings. League officials said it was the longest played game in the history of the Big League Southeast Regional tournament. Northwest followed with a loss to Virginia, 6-1, to finish pool play at 0-2 and end their season as one of the final 35 teams in the United States.

One of the city’s top female golfers Hanley Long finished runner-up in the 51st Annual Tennessee Girls’ Junior Golf Championships last weekend in Sevierville Golf Club.

Long, who helped Rossview finished state runner-up in Class AAA at state last year, shot a a three-day total of 220 (7-over), taking second place behind Covington’s Aubree Jones (6-under). Long shot a 2-over, 73, on the first day and added three more strokes to that total on the second day. But on the final day, Long found her rhythm to shoot even-par. Her Lady Hawks teammates will start the high school season Tuesday at The Links at Novadell in Hopkinsville.